Religious Persecution

An association of Christian agencies and individuals advocating human rights of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, remained concerned Wednesday, October 22, over the situation of several Christian prisoners, some of whom may be executed under recently adopted legislation.

In ‘prayer alerts’ send by the Internet to supporters, Middle East Concern (MEC) said it was particularly concerned about detained Christians in Iran who it claimed may face the death penalty. “Iranian Christians have requested our prayers for Ramtin, an Iranian believer arrested on August 21 in [the area of] Mashad, and the son of pastor Hussein Soodmand who was [executed] in 1990.”

For Bituni Ashru De Silva, a Jehovahʼs Witness Christian minority schoolgirl, being gang raped [by Muslims] wasnʼt enough; she had to be killed in the end. Rapists poured poison in her mouth first to kill her. She was rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment, by none, but her own mother, Sima D Silva, who had also been raped by culprits. Sensing Bituni Asru D Silva may survive and testify in court of the notoriety, the gang of culprits came back to the hospital and suffocated the girl till they were sure that she was already dead. Local police station refused to register murder case, although specific allegation was lodged by the victims father James D Silva. Inspector General of Police, Noor Muhammed, instead of taking action against the culprits, passed objectionable remarks, saying both Bituni and her mother were ʽprostitutesʼ.

In Eritrea, another African nation, those citizens that follow the Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox or Evangelical faiths are safe. Often people who have beliefs outside of the four are persecuted. A registration system was formed that made it mandatory for groups, outside of the aforementioned faiths, to provide information about themselves in order for them to worship. In addition, aside from the four faiths that have been listed, none other is recognized. Human rights groups often complain to practitioners about the many people throughout the African states that are being harassed and persecuted because of their religious beliefs.

Religious groups are forced to meet in secret. They have to meet in small groups to avoid the chance of someone going to the authorities. There have been beatings and arrests. Force and intimidation is even used to convert members of other faiths to those faiths that are accepted by the Eritrean leaders. Otherwise, they are declared as enemies of the state.

However, in America, it is far worse: according to Rick Santorum, Obama, liberals and secularists “are taking faith and crushing it.”

How so? What horrifically repressive acts are being committed against helpless Christians in America? Are they being executed for their beliefs? Are their women being gang-raped and then called prostitutes? Are they forced to worship in private lest they be beaten and arrested?

The truth is even worse: some religious institutions–not churches, but hospitals and the like–may be forced to provide contraception to people who work for them–only if the person requests it, and only if the institution, for some reason, decides not to employ any of the truck-sized exemptions and exclusions they are being provided.

Inhuman! Intolerable! This is almost as appalling as the outrage of persecution in which a few businesses print “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” thus instigating an all-out war against Christianity!

Okay, sarcasm off. But honestly, in the context of actual religious persecution going on in the world, the religious right in America comes across as the most pathetic, sniveling, gracious-me-I-have-the-vapors weak-ass self-martyred whiners imaginable.

Not to mention dishonorable, as the only two things they are actually protesting are, first, a separation of church and state which protects religious freedom, and second, laws preventing them from discriminating against others too much. In short, they don’t want freedom–they already have that–they want the power to repress others, and are “persecuted” because their campaign is being slowed.

Christians in America, far from being “crushed,” are the ones crushing others–trampling expression by other groups, excluding others on massive scales, denying other faiths the ability to build houses of worship–you know, real acts which are hostile to free expression of belief.

Any Christian who believes their religious freedoms are being “crushed” in America are at the very least deluded, and at the most hypocritical liars–either way, they are an inexcusable affront to people throughout the world, throughout history, who actually experienced religious persecution of any honest kind.

Wonderful post. I’m getting angrier and angrier with these people … wait, I’m not even going to try to be polite anymore and call them people, they deserve to be pelted with lengthy strings of unflattering names, these asshats, these Lords of Misrule. Then again, what they live for is to make us angry so I shouldn’t give in. The mind games, I can’t keep up.